


A Box for Alec

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 21:07:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14410581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Alexander gets a box of his own after Magnus tires of his increasingly constant suggestions of what to save for his box.





	A Box for Alec

**Author's Note:**

> i made a crackpost that some people ran with and someone suggested it become a ficlet so here we are. i wrote most of this at 2 am and have zero regrets (set after the 3x06 sneak peek)

Before Alec could finish the words ‘in the box’ the mug he brought home from the Institute was already there, the brief shimmer of Magnus’ magic fading away in the place it used to be. Magnus made the mistake of pointing out that the coffee in it was almost gone, which prompted the reply of ‘You know what else will be gone one day? Me. Maybe you should keep this mug and–’

After the third time Alec suggested something of his get saved ‘for the box’ that day, Magnus found the largest box he had in the apartment and placed it in the smallest spare room, one that held extra books, reserve potion ingredients, and various odds and ends he didn’t have a place for elsewhere in the loft.

A room which now also held ‘The Box’. Magnus took a black marker and wrote the words “Alexander’s Box” on the side in flowing script, and every time since then Alec made a sarcastic remark about some part of his life ending up in ‘The Box’ to Magnus, Magnus would put said item in it. It started with the spatula from breakfast, and then the towel Alec used to wipe up some spilled milk from the kitchen floor, and then the razor he borrowed to shave. The act was just as petty as the comments it responded to, but it kept him from yelling again.

When he started, Magnus didn’t imagine it would go on much longer than a day before they talked things over and moved past it. But it turned into a game, almost, and when it became clear Alec was not ready to continue the discussion from breakfast it at least served as a way to ease the tension of the unresolved fight.

It only grew from there, both of them losing track of what exactly landed in The Box, and one or the other of them often going for something and finding it missing, only to suddenly remember where it was. By the second day Magnus had to magically expand the box four times, and by the third day he stopped checking it at all, simply waving his hands and disappearing items into The Box one by one. It was difficult to tell whether or not Alec was even serious about the comments any longer, or if he was simply testing Magnus’ resolve to rid the living areas of them one by one. The tension was still there between them, but by now there was the slightest hint of a smirk every time Alec started up again, knowing exactly what he was doing, and a sigh from Magnus who was really going to miss that armchair.

A week later and Magnus was trying to banish a shirt stained with ichor that Alec just removed into The Box, when it didn’t go anywhere. He tried again, but the magic simply hit the fabric and dissipated, the shirt remaining in a lump on the bedroom floor. “…strange.” Magnus muttered, wondering why it didn’t work. He walked to the spare room and turned the knob to push open the door, but it was stuck. Using his magic to force the door open he was immediately filled with regret - the sound of shifting objects was not enough warning for him to remove himself entirely from the path of the avalanche of household items that tumbled out at him, hitting his arms and torso and burying his slippered feet under a pile which included, but was far from limited to, broken arrows and shampoo bottles, a phone charger, some household appliances, five toothbrushes (Alec got a new one every night after commenting the one he just used should be saved for posterity) and even a sock with a hole worn into the heel.

He could hear Alec snickering behind him while he stood, shoulders tensed and hands clenched at his side. “Alexander, this needs to stop,” he said, tone nothing short of exasperated. 

“I will stop,” Alec said, doing his best to sound genuinely sorry, but even without facing him Magnus could hear the smile through his tone that the shadowhunter couldn’t keep away. “One day-” 

“-Alec, please.”

“-when I’m dead.”

“Alexander.”

“Because I’m going to die one day.”

Without saying another word Magnus raised his hands, and Alec felt himself being pulled forward against his will.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Alec demanded, but Magnus remained silent as he floated Alec down the hallway and through the cluttered doorway, finally placing him down on the top of the pile that took up the majority of the room. “Ha ha, Magnus. Very funny.” Alec’s head nearly touched the ceiling.

“I thought so,” Magnus confirmed, already clearing away the items blocking the door from closing.

“You know, one day I will end up in a box–” 

Magnus shut the door and walked away.

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com))


End file.
